STEPHEN McGlynn watched nervously as his hopes of a treble triumph lay 10 feet from the 18th hole

The last player out at the Lancashire Under 15 Boys Championship, Joseph Murray, was preparing to sink the putt that would have destroyed the Blackburn boy's dreams of his third major title in a month.

But Stephen breathed a huge sigh of relief as Murray's putt trickled past the hole and gave McGlynn another trophy to add to his bustling cabinet.

The 14-year-old picked up the ELGA Championship in July and last week won the Inter Club Knockout at Pleasington.

He seemed certain to add to his double at Dunscar on Monday when he shot a par 71 and was in the clubhouse with a three shot lead over Murray.

The Blundells Hill golfer only had two holes to play but hit a remarkable two on the 17th to reduce the deficit to one stroke going down the 18th.

"It was very close," said Stephen. "He would have beaten me on a card playoff if it had gone in so I was relieved to see it miss.

"It was a 10-footer so I had a feeling he would do it but it didn't turn out like that."

The St Augustine's pupil has also been successful in reducing his handicap by three shots this year and he pinpoints last year's captain at Blackburn, Peter Forrest, as the most influential factor in his best year yet.

Stephen added: "I've definitely played better this year than I ever have, probably because Peter got me in to men's competitions.

"I've done brilliantly in some and average in others, but playing in them every Saturday has really helped me in the junior game.

"The school holidays have also helped as I've been able to get on the course a lot more."

Although his record of achieving personal goals for this season is well above par, he still has a couple of short term ambitions left for the remainder of the year, as well as his long term aim to turn professional.

He said: "My aim was to get my handicap down to four this year and I've done that. But I have a few competitions left, like the Preston Open and Birkdale Open, to get it down to three."

Stephen was the only East Lancashire player to make a real impact at Dunscar as the best net score of 60 went to home golfer Robert Middleton.

Richard Tyrrell of Clitheroe came closest to Stephen out of the other local lads with an 80.

THE East Lancashire Golf Association have failed to make the final of this year's Lancashire Inter-Regional Junior League.

They beat Southport 12-6 lost 10-8 in their other game to South Lancashire, who topped the group and will play Fylde in the final at Lancaster on Monday.